The technique of growing plants using hydroponic involves growing plants in water with an effective system for general hydroponic nutrient management. You wouldn’t believe your plants just grew in water, would you? Hydroponics really breaks down the process of growing to its basics and shows you what is really essential for your plants and what could be done away with. Hydroponic nutrients come in liquefied forms or as powder that can be suspended in water. They are more direct than the nutrients that would otherwise reach plants through soil.

Essential hydroponic nutrients comprising 22 vital elements are essential for plant growth. The three most important ones – carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are obtained from air and water. Hydroponic nutrients can also be circulated by passing them through plastic pipes into the root zone media. 6 hydroponic macronutrients that your garden needs in abundance are – nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. The rest of the 16 elements are micronutrients which are required in trace quantity. Some of the micronutrients are boron, chloride, copper, manganese, sodium, zinc, molybdenum and nickel.

The basic nutrients plants require are nitrogen (N) for leaf and stem growth, phosphorus (P) for root growth and potassium (K) for flowers, fruit and to maintain healthy growth of the plants. There are two major types of plants nutrients, organic and inorganic. Organic nutrients refer to substances that include a wide variety of living or dead plants and animal material. Some of the typical organic nutrients are manure, fish bone, decaying plant matter and so on. On the other hand, inorganic nutrients come from manmade chemicals and some from natural minerals. You need to feed your plants according to their needs.